Frans J.M. Rietmeijer

Research and Academic Interests:

My research involves the petrology, mineralogy and chemistry of ultrafine-grained
sub-millimeter particles in the Earth's atmosphere, in particular in the stratosphere.
I use electron microscope techniques to characterize collected dust that includes
anthropogenic dust, i.e. fly ash, and volcanic ash to determine their environmental
impact. My major interest is focused on studies of collected interplanetary
dust particles that are among the oldest materials that have preserved a record
of the onset of mineralogical activity in our solar system. My work on this
cosmic dust from comets and primitive asteroids, as well as their laboratory-produced
analogs, helps us to understand the solar system processes 4.56 Gyrs. ago and
it supports planning spacecraft missions to comets and asteroids.